(14) 



The seeds of the Swiss Stone-Pine are nearly as large as hazel 

 nuts, edible, and are much relished in Russia and Siberia. In that 

 country the gathering of them constitutes quite an industry. From 

 the shells, an oil is sometimes expressed that is used for fuel in 

 lamps. Squirrels, too, are fond of these seeds. For these reasons 

 the cones seldom remain long enough to yield mature seeds. One 

 record, nearly a hundred years old, states that the kernels of the 

 seeds furnished an important part of a Swiss dessert, and that an 

 essential oil was obtained by distillation from the young shoots of 

 this tree after they had been macerated and steeped in water for a 

 month. The liquid whitish oil thus obtained was known as Car- 

 pathian Balsam and in Germany was believed to possess extraor- 

 dinary health-giving qualities. 



The wood of this tree is of considerable economic value in 

 alpine regions where it is native. It is white, soft, and fine- 

 grained, with an agreeable odor that is obnoxious to insects. It is 

 consequently used for lining clothes-closets in addition to its use 

 for wainscotting, upholstery, cabinet making, and turnery work ; 

 it takes paint and polish well. 



The cones, which at first are purplish violet, later becoming 

 brown, never open but fall when mature. The scales must rot 

 away or be removed by man or beast to liberate the seeds. The 

 needles are in groups of fives and the whole foliage is character- 

 istically tufted. It is the only five-needle pine found wild in the 

 Alps. Most distinctive of this tree is the prominent dense yellow- 

 ish-brown hairiness on the young branchlets. The only other five- 

 needle pine with which this one may be confused is the Korean 

 Pine, P. koraiensis (p. 42). In the latter the shoots are similarly 

 hairy but the leaves are stouter and the teeth on their margins are 

 more numerous and extend to the tip. The cones, moreover, are 

 distinctly longer. The hairiness on the current-year shoots serves 

 to distinguish the Swiss Stone-Pine from the next species, 



Pinus Peuce, the Macedonian Pine 



The remaining seven pyramidal trees in the group are of this 

 kind. The first of them, is just to the right of the first three 

 Swiss Stone-Pines. These Macedonian Pines, too, are very fine, 



